FOLLOWING the Monica/Gennifer/Paula scandals during the last administration, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was toted as the modern day Tammy Wynette -- she stood by her man. Now, five years later, a new administration is in power and a new president is in need of a little support -- support that not only would benefit the administration but that is crucial to American, Iraqi and global safety.
On Sunday, President George W. Bush stood in front of the cameras and calmly explained to America what many were already suggesting -- the reconstruction of Iraq is going to require a continuing commitment of U.S. troops and money. The president set the bill at an additional $87 billion to be spent in Iraq over the next few years ("Bush to ask billions more for Iraq," CNN.com, Sep. 8).
Backlash from the left was unsurprisingly swift and negative and more detrimental than just a few polling points.
Sen. Bob Graham, (D-Fl.) stated after the speech that "the president is clearly making a judgment that it is more important for us to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan than it is to deal with the very serious problems that we have in the United States." Serious problems that he earlier stated as roads, bridges and highway transit systems.
Come on, Bob. First of all, this is not the president picking another country over that of his homeland. By taking down the tyrannical regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, the President is acting on behalf of America and for America's own good. No U.S. citizen is going to complain about potholes and interstate traffic when innocent civilians are falling victim to suicide bombings in our streets and towers are again falling on national television.
Our country must first worry about its national safety before it can begin to sweat the small stuff. As President Bush said, "We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today, so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities."
Possibly even more harmful, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) stated that he "had hoped to hear acknowledgment from the President of our failures in Iraq, the war on terrorism and the administration's concrete plans for solving them with our allies and through the United Nations."
Obviously, Sen. Kennedy and the rest of the nation have different definitions for the word "fail." Apparently failing means taking down not one, but two bloody regimes that for decades had terrorized their own people and provided a breeding ground for the most vicious and bloodthirsty terrorist organizations known to modern man. Failing must mean thwarting terrorist threats both home and abroad while capturing over two-thirds of al Qaeda, the global terrorist organization responsible for countless bombings and an untold number of deaths. And finally, failing must mean going against the United Nations to do what nobody else had the guts to and then have the countries that opposed you the most (France, Germany and Russia) state publicly they are open to negotiations and want to help the cause ("Dems Bash Bush Speech," FoxNews.com, Sep. 8).
Graham and Kennedy's reactions, however, are not all that shocking. For a country that just 24 months ago saw our lawmakers singing arm in arm on the steps of the Capitol, partisan politics has come back with a vengeance.
Iraq and homeland security, however, are one area in Washington where divisive politics cannot play a part. What's done is done -- countries have been invaded, lives lost and governments toppled. Regardless of one's support for the war in Iraq the question of finishing the efforts is non-negotiable.
If America were to back out now, all the efforts thus far would be for naught, Saddam and his underling thugs would seize control again, terrorists would be offered another safe harbor, and hundreds of Iraqis, Americans and British would have died in vain.
On the flip side, though, if American politicians were to actually band together and support our President, Iraq could be installed with its first democratic government. Just think of the possibilities there -- a former menace to peace and freedom becoming the very embodiment of liberty and democracy.
Tomorrow will be the second anniversary of the September terrorist attacks. Since then the Bush administration has done everything in its power to prevent another such wound on American soil. 87 billion dollars? That's nothing for a nation to pay to never have to see another list of dead, another throng of rescue workers digging through rubble, or another tower falling.
(Maggie Bowden is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. She can be reached at mbowden@cavalierdaily.com)
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